Euro Dips Below Dollar

December 3, 1999

Europe's fledgling single currency, the euro, tumbled below $1 for the first time on Thursday, less than a year after it was launched amid fears that it might become so strong that it would hurt the economies of the United States and Europe.

As the euro breached the psychologically important barrier, concern heightened about its long-term viability. Eleven European nations formed the euro on Jan. 1 in an ambitious effort to create a regional economic and monetary union.

The euro reached parity with the U.S. dollar at 3:47 p.m. EST, quickly slipped to 99.95 U.S. cents and then rose just above parity. Its previous all-time low was $1.0039, reached during trading Monday.

The single currency now has plunged 16 percent from its first day of trading, Jan. 4, when it quickly rose to an all-time high of $1.1886. The euro's decline extended a ragged retreat over worries that European governments lacked the resolve to let free-market forces prevail without intervening to protect national businesses.

NationsBank sells building

The sale of the NationsBank building in downtown Fort Lauderdale is a done deal. Mainstreet One Financial Plaza has purchased the 28-story office tower from Equitable Pacific Partners for $36 million. In the deal, Mainstreet also obtained a 3.8-acre lot adjacent to the building that could accommodate a 600,000-square-foot building. Mainstreet used a $25 million financing arrangement from Allstate Life Insurance Co. The transaction required the restructuring of NationsBank's lease on 150,000 square feet at the building. NationsBank is in the process of looking at sites for its Broward headquarters.

Carnival settles in rape case

Carnival Cruise Lines reached an out of court settlement with a woman who sued the Miami-based line saying she was raped by a fellow crew member. The details of the settlement were not released. A trial had been set to begin on Dec. 13.

The woman alleged she was assaulted by an engineer on the cruise ship Imagination in 1998. The engineer, Yurij Senes, was later indicted by a grand jury on charges of aggravated sexual assault, but remains in Italy. In pretrial discovery, Carnival disclosed that it had investigated 108 alleged sex assaults on its ships over a five-year period. At one point, the woman had offered to settle the case for $4 million.

Herald names executive editor

The Miami Herald appointed Martin Baron, 45, as executive editor Thursday. He joins the Herald from The New York Times, where he served as associate managing editor.

"This is a great opportunity to have a leadership role in a newspaper with a storied tradition," Baron said.

Born in Tampa, Baron began his career in 1976 as a Herald business and state reporter. Baron left the Herald in 1979 to join the Los Angeles Times, where he worked in various reporting and editing positions in 17 years.

In 1996, Baron joined The New York Times as assistant to the managing editor. He became associate managing editor a year later, serving as the senior newsroom officer in the evening.

Herald publisher Alberto Ibarguen said he will encourage Baron to give Herald operations close scrutiny when he takes the helm of the paper in January.

Blue Lake to be completed

Blue Lake Corporate Center in Boca Raton said Thursday it has secured financing to complete the office park, which now is home to Applied Cards Systems, DBT Online, Verio and Siemens Telecom Network. Blue Lake obtained $67 million in 81/2 percent financing from Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco, said Morris L. Stolz, a Blue Lake partner. Of the loan, $40 million will pay off the park's first mortgage; the remaining $27 million will be used to build out the remaining 400,000 square feet of the 1.8 million square feet of office and retail space. About 4 million square feet in new office space and 4,000 square feet in retail space is planned at the park.

Claire's buys Afterthoughts

Claire's Stores, of Pembroke Pines, said it completed the acquisition of the assets of Afterthoughts from the Venator Group for $250 million. The acquisition will add 768 stores to Claire's current store base. Claire's will now operate more than 3,000 fashion accessory and apparel stores in the United States, the Caribbean, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Claire's estimated fourth quarter results may increase 7 cents to 9 cents per share as a result.